Improvement in bedsteads



,acoompanying drawing, and the letters of refdetached view of the side board, parts being rest against upright posts secured in the slots the bedstead locked together by means of legs slotsiin the rails, andiu front of the head and I The several features of the bedstead are ofsuch construction as to permit of their being features of the bedstead, may be constructed WILLIAM .W QniorcnEnonnE nnrion, atnn'mnmoai IMPROVEMENT m eEpsrEAps.

Specification forming'part of Letters Patent No 122,8 dated January 25, 1876 application filed January 15, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM WILSON, of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory, have invented an Improved Portable Bedstead, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the erence marked thereon, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view. Fig. 2 .is a plan view of the head or foot board. Fig. 3 is a side view of the leg or key. Fig. 4 is a removed.

The object of my improvement is toprovide a simple and practicable means of constructing a, bedstead, whereby its several parts canreadily be attached or fastened together without employing screws, bolts, or any other like device.

The nature of my invention consists in forming the side rails of the bedstead with longitudinal slots or' mortises cut at their opposite ends, and in providing the head and foot boards with lateral slotted or recessed bearings, which fit over the rails, supporting the head and foot boards thereon. Said boards at the end of the rail, and are then fastened in a vertical position, and the several parts of .or supports formed with an angular or wedgeshapedface, which are passed up through the foot boards.

stored or bundled in the most compact form for transportation, &c.

The construction and operation of my invention are as follows: j A A are the side rails, and, like the other of any suitable material.

In the accompanying drawing, these side rails are composed of three strips-an outer strip, 1, an inner strip, 2, and a center strip, 3. The strips 1- 2 are of the same length; but the center strip 3 is shorter, and so relatively arranged, in connection with the outer and inner strips, that when the three strips'l 2 3 are fastenedtogether open longitudinal slots will be provided at the opposite ends of the rails, between the outer and inner strips 1 2, as shown at B B or, instead of the rails being composed of three strips, they may be each formed of a single piece, and in which case the mortises or slots B B are cut out at the ends of the rails.

The ends of the strips 3, or the inner faces of the slots or mortises B B, should be cut angularly, as shown at 4, Fig. 4., so as to provide a better bearing for the wedge-shaped faces of the legs Ev At the ends of the slots or mortises B B are inserted and rigidly secured vertical or upright posts 0 0, one in each slot.

These posts are designed to assist in retaining the'head and foot boards D D in proper position.

These boards D D are, in their general outline, of the form shown in Fig. 2, and provided with slots or recess-bearings d d, which are of such dimensions as to permit, when in position, of their fitting snugly over the side rails A A, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

E E are the legs, and, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, are formed with their outer edges straight, and their inner faces angular or wedge-shaped.

It will be seen by reference to Fig. 1 that it is only necessary that the'upper half-section of the edge e of the legs EE should be angular or wedge-shaped, as it is this section alone which has its bearing. against the inclined.

head 4 of the slots B B. V

-F F are strips which may be used in connection with the head and foot boards D D.

These strips are provided with recess-bear- The posts 0 0, when the rails are finished,

are secured in position in the slots or mortises. B B. Now, to put up the bedstead place the head and foot boards D D in position, with their sockets or openings at d fitting over the rails, and then pass the legs E E up through the mortises B B,'and in front of the head and foot boards, and their inclined or wedgeshaped faces 6 6, having their bearin gs against the wedge-shaped heads 4 of themortises or; slots, act as keys or wedges to lock theseveral features together, thus producing a light and strong bedstead, easily put up and taken down, and one in which fastening-screws and all such devices are entirely dispensed with, and the greater the weight, unless suflicient to break the bedstead down, the more secure the fastening.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

A bedstead consisting of they rails-AA,

having sockets, or mortises B B, posts O O,-

headand foot boards D D, having sockets or recesses 11 d, and the legs E E, having inclined or wedge-shaped faces a e, the Whole constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

- w i WILLIAM WILSON.

Witnesses:

PHILIP F. LARNER, EDWIN JAMES. l 

